Long Island, one of our most famous landmarks is getting new owners.
Oheka Castle, the Gold Coast estate in Huntington, sold Tuesday at a live auction at The Dominick hotel in New York City. Concierge Auctions ran the sale with The Modlin Group, and the castle went for a winning bid of about $72 million ($71.8 million), plus buyer’s premium. Seven bidders were in the room, and more than 740 prospective buyers around the world took a look.
- Where
- Huntington, on Long Island’s Gold Coast
- Winning bid
- About $72 million ($71.8 million), plus buyer’s premium
- Built
- 1914-1919 for financier Otto Kahn
- Designed by
- Delano & Aldrich, with gardens by the Olmsted Brothers
- Size
- 127 rooms, about 113,000 square feet, on 23 acres
- Today
- A 32-suite hotel, restaurant and wedding venue
Who’s buying
According to The Real Deal and other reports, the winning bidders are Ronald Browning and Paul Alflen, partners at Long Island-based Gold Coast Property & Estate Management. Their attorney said the pair “love the castle” and are “excited for the opportunity to conserve the castle and take over its stewardship.”
The attorney also said they plan development only “on portions of the property that will not interfere with the castle or its ground.” ABC7 reported the winning bidder may seek permits for up to 95 condominium units on the property, and officials said the castle will keep operating as it does now: hotel, restaurant and wedding venue.
The sale is not official yet. A federal bankruptcy judge has to approve it at a confirmation hearing on Thursday, Oct. 29, and the deal is expected to close about 35 days after the auction.
Why it was for sale
The auction came out of a Chapter 11 filing by the company of owner Gary Melius, who bought Oheka in the 1980s and spent about $40 million restoring it.
A castle with a résumé
Oheka is the second-largest private home ever built in America, a French Renaissance-style chateau. After Kahn died in 1934, it became a retreat for New York City sanitation workers, then a military academy, then sat abandoned until Melius brought it back.
You have probably seen it. Taylor Swift filmed her “Blank Space” video there, and it has shown up in Citizen Kane, Succession, Gossip Girl, The Americans and The Diplomat. Kevin and Danielle Jonas got married there in 2009.
We’ll keep you posted after Thursday’s hearing. Listen live on the WLIT.FM app for more Long Island news.
Sources: Concierge Auctions press release (EIN Presswire), ABC7NY, The Real Deal. Buyer names and attorney quotes as reported; the sale awaits court approval. Photo: OhekaCastleNY, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
